


Look how they shine for you

by sidetone



Series: Of Heirs and Knights [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Crushes, Cute, Falling In Love, Fluff, Knight Dave Strider, M/M, Prince John Egbert, Royalty, Sweet, Teen Romance, Young Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-30
Updated: 2020-01-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:47:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22482838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sidetone/pseuds/sidetone
Summary: 13 years ago, the Queen was assassinated, and for 13 years her son hasn't been permitted to leave the castle. Now 17 years old, Prince John Egbert is bored to death and wants nothing more than for some change. He finally gets it when he's assigned a personal knight to protect him at all times.
Relationships: John Egbert/Dave Strider
Series: Of Heirs and Knights [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1617622
Comments: 3
Kudos: 52
Collections: Purrsonal Picks





	Look how they shine for you

John sighed heavily as he made his way down the corridor, his footsteps echoing and making the place seem incredibly empty, despite the lavish decorations. That was how it had been as long as he could remember, the fanciful drapes and paintings doing nothing to cover up the absolute lack of company in the castle. It had once been more lively, or so he’d been told, back before the Queen had been assassinated. He wouldn’t know if it were, he was too young to remember his mother being alive, but he liked the thought of it; the sound of chatter and laughing instead of this inescapable silence. 

For 17 years, or at least the years he could remember, Prince John Egbert had been alone. Sure, he had his dad and the royal guards and servants, but those weren’t people he could talk to, not really. They weren’t people his age. It was the same old thing day in and day out, trying to find ways to entertain himself, but he was always bored to death.

Today was going to be different though, or so he hoped, and he could feel his heart quicken in his chest a bit as he made his way down to the throne room where he’d been summoned. Today he was going to meet the knight that had been assigned to be his personal bodyguard. Most of the royal knights he’d met in his time and been pretty stoic and didn’t like to talk much, but he was really hoping this one would be different. After all, if they were going to be around each other all the time, he at least wanted to get to know them! Maybe they could even be friends! Probably not, but he could hope!

He drummed his fingers on the armrest of the throne impatiently as he waited for whatever royal official to bring in the knight, almost about to just get up and leave when the doors at the other end of the room finally swung open, some boring-looking royal staff walking down the intricate blue carpet, a knight in golden armor at his side. John sat up straight at that, his lips curling into a smile at the sight. Finally! He’d been looking forward to this for weeks now!

The royal staff started going on some long official tangent about the assigning and how he’d picked only the best knight for the prince, but John wasn’t paying any attention to that. No, he was too busy studying the armored man with wide eyes, completely ignoring everything else. At the end of the speech, the knight finally removed his helmet, holding it at his side as he knelt.

“I’m sir David Strider. It’s an honor to serve you, my prince.” The knight spoke, and now John really couldn’t take his eyes off him. Strider had blonde hair, messy from his helmet, and ruby red eyes that made his heart beat faster as their eyes met- Oh my god, he was hot. But most importantly, Sir Strider appeared to be the same age as him, or at least close to it. He couldn’t help but feel excited at that- He’d never met anyone his age, after all.

After an awkward pause, John finally responded, laughing and shaking his head. “Haha, yeah, it’s an honor to have a knight with such a cool name, Sir Strider!” He replied, and the knight seemed surprised that he wasn’t taking this very seriously, but he didn’t say anything about it. The prince then turned to the royal official, giving a dismissive wave of his hand. “Thanks for the speech or whatever, you can go now.” The man replied with a quick ‘yes, of course’ and hurried out of the room, leaving the knight and the prince alone.

John hopped off his throne, strolling down the short set of stairs to the knight and offering him a hand to help him up. “C’mon, Strider, let’s get outta here. I’ll show you around the castle!” He insisted. 

The knight stood up, giving him a confused look. “Er, you don’t have to do that. You’re the prince, you shouldn’t have to-”

“Oh, don’t worry about it! I have nothing better to do, anyways.” John cut him off, giving him a cheerful smile. “It’ll be fun!”

Dave gave an uncertain nod, supposing he shouldn’t argue. Damn, he hadn’t been prepared for this, the training he’d gotten made it seem like the prince was going to be stuffy and stuck-up, not so… Goofy? “As you wish, my prince.”

John stuck his tongue out a bit at that, clearly displeased with that. “You don’t have to be so formal, you know! We’re going to be around each other like, constantly, so you can just call me John.” He requested, earning himself another confused look from Dave.

“Um, okay then, John.” The name felt weird, like it was a little too intimate for a knight to be calling the prince, but he didn’t have much of a choice here. It was kind of nice, anyways, not having to be so uptight all the time. “You can just call me Dave, then.”

“Awesome! Okay then, Dave, let me show you around!” John grinned, leading him out of the throne room and into the rest of the castle. 

Dave had to admit that the castle was rather impressive, even if John didn’t seem to think so. He came from a lower class family and had never been anywhere too fancy before, much less an actual royal castle. It was hard not to feel out of place, honestly, even if he was a royal knight now. John showed him every room: the dining hall, the libraries, the gardens, the countless living rooms, though he wasn’t so much enjoying showing off his home as much as he was enjoying talking to Dave and seeing his reactions. 

Eventually, they ended up on one of the balconies overlooking the forest and town below, sitting across from each other at a small table. John beaconed one of the servants over and asked him to get them some tea, before looking down at the town square. He looked a bit sad for a moment, but his eyes lit up when he noticed what the townspeople were doing, grinning and looking over excitedly at Dave. “Look, they’re setting up for the summer festival! This is like, one of my favorite times of the year!”

“Oh, yeah, I guess I kinda forgot about the festival.” The knight shrugged nonchalantly, glancing down as well. “Do you go every year or something?”

John’s excited grin fell into a sad smile at that, sighing a bit. “Oh, no, the last time I went I was too young to remember. I just like looking at the lights from up here, the view is pretty.” He explained, trying to stay cheerful, but there was an undeniable melancholy in his voice. 

“Oh.” Well damn, now Dave just felt like an asshole. He’d heard things about the prince being a bit of a hermit, never being seen outside of the castle- there were even a few blatantly untrue rumors about him being deformed or something of the sort, but Dave had assumed that he had to get out sometimes; that he did leave the castle and the royal family was just secretive about it in the wake of the Queen’s death. He must’ve been wrong about that. He wasn’t sure what the right move was here, just realizing that the prince never actually left the castle grounds. What was he supposed to say? “... Well, I’ve been a couple times. It was pretty fun, I guess.”

“Oh, really?” John seemed to perk right up at that- whew, he wasn’t sure if that was just going to make him feel even worse. He looked excited, leaning forward a bit in his seat. “Tell me all about it! I mean, if you want, it’s not like… A command or anything, haha.”

“Haha, okay, sure if you wanna hear about it so bad.” Dave couldn’t help but smile just a little bit at how happy he seemed just to be able to hear about it. “There are vendors and merchants everywhere for starters. Selling some seriously crazy shit. There are even trolls from the Alternian kingdoms trying to make bank on this whole situation. There’s a ton of food stands too. That shit isn’t cheap, but damn, it was some of the best food I’d ever had. There are some dances too, and performers- Man, my bro and I actually performed one year. We made some major cash on it.”

“Oh my god, really? You have a brother? That’s so cool!” John clapped his hands together, eyes wide. “What kind of performers were you?”

Dave looked a little embarrassed at the question, but he hid it well, just shrugging casually. “It was a sort of music performance. Sick beats and rhymes, you know. Pretty standard stuff.”

“Rhymes? Like poetry with music?” The prince tilted his head, not seeming to get what Dave was talking about. He had only heard the musicians that were invited to play for the king, and those were typically choirs and orchestras, so he had no idea what Dave meant by ‘sick beats’. 

“Uh… Yeah, I guess you could say that.” The blonde tried not to laugh at how sheltered and disconnected from the outside world he was. It was funny, but… It was pretty sad at the same time. “My bro and I were the talk of the town that night, I swear.”

“Right, your brother! It’s so cool that you have a sibling.” John chuckled. “I have a sister, you know. I don’t really remember much about her since she moved away, but dad says that she used to play in the garden a lot. We used to have a dog, too! But she took the dog with when she went, haha.” 

“Right, I remember hearing bout that.” He nodded, crossing his arms as he thought. “Princess Jade Harley, right? Moved to the other side of the kingdom. The king thought it would be safer not to have the royal family all in one place or something.”

“Mhm, she lives with our grandpa now. We send letters sometimes, but the mail around here takes forever, I swear.” He sighed, shaking his head. “She’s pretty much my only friend, I think, even if I never get to see her. She can be really weird sometimes- In a good way, of course! She just says a lot of vague stuff about the visions she sees in her dreams. Oh, and the dog, she talks about him a lot too.” 

“Dream visions, huh? Man, I thought that was a rumor.” Dave chuckled a bit, though he was beginning to understand more and more why John was so insistent on calling him by his name and dropping the formalities, why he was so excited to show him around. John just wanted a friend. And honestly, he was happy to fill that role. 

“Oh, no, she really does get visions! It’s super weird. It’s just good she’s royalty, otherwise she’d probably be called a witch.” John laughed, before he noticed the servant standing in the doorway of the balcony. “Oh! Looks like our tea is here!” 

The conversation fell quiet as the servant set their cups of tea down, an awkward pause before the prince started chatting again. “Ah, where were we again? We really got off topic there… Oh, right! The festival!” He looked back down at the festival preparations wistfully, a pensive expression crossing his face. “... You know, I know I should be grateful that dad wants to keep me safe and all, but… I really wish I could go, at least once. The view is nice and all, but I want to be with the people, you know? It gets so boring around here, as spoiled as that sounds.”

“Yeah, I get what you mean. People weren’t really meant to spend their whole lives in one place.” Dave nodded, staring at his sad expression with a frown before speaking again. “Hey, maybe the king will let you go this time. I mean, you do have me to guard you now. Best in my class, might I add.”

John smiled at that, but he didn’t look totally convinced. “Haha, yeah, I sure hope so. That would be fun, wouldn’t it? Then I wouldn’t have to go alone! I doubt it’ll happen, but there’s nothing wrong with hoping, I guess.” 

\---

“Oh my god, Dave, guess what?!” John ran up to the knight first thing in the morning, looking ecstatic- and like he’d just gotten out of bed. “My dad’s finally letting me go!!” He couldn’t stop smiling, and goddamn it was contagious, even Dave “poker face” Strider couldn’t help but smile back.

“To the festival? See, I told you he would.” Dave smirked a little bit, earning him a playful roll of the eyes from the prince. “I should be a fucking prophet.”

“Oh, hush. It took a lot of convincing, you know.” John huffed, but his smile didn’t falter for a second. It was nice, seeing him so happy for once. “Anyways, we should get ready! I mean, you still have to wear your armor I guess, but you can help me pick something out! I have no idea what I’m supposed to wear…” 

“Is that a royal command, your highness?” The knight teased.

“Bluh, no, you know what I mean! I’m asking you as a friend, y’know!” He shook his head, chuckling a bit despite himself, grabbing him by his armored hand and guiding him to his bedroom.

“Yeah, as a friend.” The blonde repeated quietly with a fond smile, letting himself get dragged along in the prince’s excitement.

\---

John was practically skipping as they made their way into town, blue eyes wide and shining bright as he first laid eyes on the festival that night. The lanterns lit up the town in a beautiful orange glow, and there were people- more people than John had ever been able to see up close. They came in all shapes and sizes and colors- there were even a few trolls from the neighboring Alternian kingdoms in the mix. He could smell all different kinds of foods coming from the stands, and there were all kinds of trinkets and items being sold, from jewelry to intricate masks, and things he had never seen before. There was always music playing, people dancing- It was so beautiful and fascinating and…

“Hey, Earth to Prince Egbert, anyone home in there?” An armored hand was waved in front of his face, snapping him out of his trance. “You didn’t come here just to stare, did you?”

“Huh? Oh, jeez, I guess I didn’t realize I was staring for so long, haha.” John shook his head, a little embarrassed. “Let’s go! I’ve been waiting for this for years!”

It was cute, watching John be so fascinated by things Dave considered pretty mundane. It reminded him of being a kid again, his first summer festival, the joy and wonder that came from it. His excited pointing, how he wanted to try everything, that smile that he couldn’t wipe off his face… Maybe he was enjoying it a little more than he should, maybe he was falling a little fast here, but it was hard not to. Finally, John dragged him to the town square, watching in awe as he saw the people dancing together.

“C’mon, let’s do that!” He exclaimed, tugging on his arm.

“Nah man, it’s a little hard to dance in a full set of armor. It’s heavy as shit. Gonna be clanking around like the goddamn tin man.” Dave shook his head, but he could tell he was determined, turning around and marching over to one of the stands where they were selling various festive costumes. He eyeballed Dave up and down, trying to judge what size he would be, before purchasing a red and gold costume for him. Being able to buy whatever you wanted was one of the pros of being a rich kid, he supposed.

“Here, change into this!” He said, handing it to him, before something else caught his eye. It seemed to be some kind of eyewear, but it was strange and dark. The merchant noticed him staring and informed him that they were meant to protect your eyes from the sun, but John didn’t really care about that. He just thought they looked cool. “And here, take these cool things! Cool glasses for a cool guy, right?” 

“Man, I don’t know about this. Your dad is gonna have me beheaded if he catches me off knight duty or whatever.” He hesitated, but he was a sucker for that look the prince gave him, and they went off to the carriage they had arrived in, changing in there and leaving his armor inside. He found that the dark spectacles suited him pretty well, even if they made it a bit hard to see. “Well, how do I look?” He asked casually as he stepped out, and John clapped his hands excitedly. 

“Wow, you look awesome! So cool!” He giggled, already starting to walk back into town. “Now let’s hurry up! I don’t wanna miss the next dance!” 

\---

By the end of the night, both of them were exhausted, collapsing in the back of the carriage. Still, despite how tired he was, John couldn’t help but let out a contented sigh. In all honesty, he’d never had that much fun in all his years living at the castle. He felt so free here, and he felt so trapped in there, it was honestly tempting to run away- But he couldn’t do that to his dad, not when he’d already lost a family member. 

“Man, that was the best night of my life. Like, literally. I’ve never had so much fun.” He admitted, laying down on the carriage seat as he watched Dave put his armor back on. 

“Yeah, I could probably say the same.” The knight agreed. He didn’t like to get sappy, he tried to keep his cool no matter the situation, but it was the most fun he’d had in a very long time. Life with his brother wasn’t great and it forced him to always stay on his toes, and while training camp was a good escape from that, it was still a rather harsh environment. It was a great night for both of them, it seemed. 

“Mm, I hope we can do it again sometime~” The prince thought aloud dreamily, before looking over at his knight expectantly. “You’ll go with me if there is a next time, right?”

“Of course, your highness.” Dave teased, and the two of them laughed all the way back to the castle, both of them happier than ever.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know how royalty stuff works and it shows but hey I hope you enjoyed anyways!  
> Also this is the first time I've actually written any of these characters in a fic so let's hope I didn't do too shabby


End file.
